Operatives of a secretive Iran-backed terrorist network in Turkey scouted the area hosting a radar site in Malatya's Kürecik district that is part of a NATO early warning radar system, an ongoing investigation has revealed. According to an 854-page police investigation on the Tawhid-Salam terror network obtained by Today's Zaman, witness testimony provided to the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office on March 22, 2013 indicated that suspects tied to Iranian intelligence had collected information about Kürecik. The witness said many front companies with the cover of legitimate businesses such as real estate agencies or bookstores had been established in Malatya by...

UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced on February 24 that Britain would send military personnel to Ukraine soon to help train its army. RFE/RL's Rikard Jozwiak spoke to Judy Dempsey, senior associate at Carnegie Europe and editor-in-chief of the blog Strategic Europe about the significance of the move. RFE/RL: British Prime Minister David Cameron announced this week that his country will send 75 military personnel to Ukraine. Do you think this might be a game changer in the Ukraine conflict? Judy Dempsey: No. They are sending them for training, for civilian-military relations, for sorting how the military on some levels...

The UKIP leader will share a stage with high-profile US conservatives including Sarah Palin and NRA gun lobbyists.UKIP leader Nigel Farage is expected to get a celebrity reception in Washington when he addresses America's most high-profile right-wing conference this week. Sarah Palin, Rand Paul, Jeb Bush and the National Rifle Association (NRA) gun lobby will be sharing a stage with the British politician after he was invited to address the Conservative Political Action Committee in the US capital. Aides told Sky News his philosophy has much in common with his republican hosts, who also focus on "the battle for smaller...

WASHINGTON—The U.S. is providing spy-satellite imagery to Ukraine to help in its fight against Russia-backed rebels, but with a catch: the images are significantly degraded to avoid provoking Russia or compromising U.S. secrets. The White House agreed last year to Ukraine’s request to provide the photos and other intelligence. But before delivering them, U.S. officials black out military staging areas on Russian territory and reduce the resolution so that enemy formations can’t be clearly made out, making them less useful to Ukrainian military commanders. Those steps, which delay the delivery of the images by at least 24 hours, are designed...

Is this the beginning of the end for the eurozone? On Thursday, Germany rejected a Greek request for a six-month loan extension. The Germans insisted that the Greek proposal did not require the Greeks to adhere to the austerity restrictions which previous agreements had forced upon them. But Greek voters have already very clearly rejected the status quo, and the new Greek government has stated unequivocally that it will not be bound by the current bailout arrangement. So can Germany and Greece find some sort of compromise that will be acceptable to both of them? It certainly does not help...

The first anti-government rally in Athens turned ugly as anti-authoritarian protesters started to smash the windows of a pastry shop and two jewelry shops and put two vehicles and several garbage bins on fire.

European equity markets might be cheering a deal to extend Greece's aid by four months, but many ordinary Greeks feel their government has backtracked from its grand promises to strike out the bailout. Greece's left-wing government, led by Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras, was given a lifeline Friday when the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers reached a deal to extend the country's bailout by four months. Greece is now scrambling to present a list of reform proposals in order to secure the financial lifeline. However some Greek people have accused the new government of back-tracking from election promises that it...

One of the biggest question marks surrounding the Greek negotiation and ultimately, bailout extension, was just how panicked was the Greek population and domestic corporations. Recall that as explained previously, the tension boiled down to this: the Troika did everything in its power to accelerate the bank run in order to crush any negotiating leverage Varoufakis may have; Greece on the other hand was desperate to make its cash drain appear far better than rumored. Moments ago the Bank of Greece presented its latest, January, deposit data. And it's a doozy: following a record €12.2 billion monthly outflow, greater...

London (CNN)—Western relations with Russia will never again be the same after the war in Ukraine, Norwegian Defense Minister Ine Eriksen Sřreide told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday. "We are faced with a different Russia. I want to warn against the fact that some people see this as something that is going to pass. The situation has changed. And it has changed profoundly." There is "no going back to some sort of normality or some sort of back to normal business. Because that normality does not exist."

The reason Assad has been vilified is because Qatar wants a natural gas pipeline to run through the Arabian peninsula, through Jordan, through SYRIA, to Turkey. From Turkey, it can connect with existing pipelines to Europe, in order to supply Europe with natural gas. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-05-16/mystery-sponsor-weapons-and-money-syrian-rebels-revealed This proposed pipeline would threaten Russia economically, as Russia currently supplies Europe with natural gas. Syria and Russia are allies. Thus, Assad said "No" to the proposed Qatar-Turkey pipeline that would run through Syria. Next thing you know, there's an "uprising" in Syria, and Assad is public enemy number one. And when it became clear...

The European UnionÂ’s executive has unveiled a vast plan to boost coordination between the EUÂ’s 28 national energy markets to wean Europe off unstable Russian gas supplies and provide cheaper energy for consumers. European Commission Vice President MaroÂš ÂŠefÄŤoviÄŤ on Wednesday called it Â“undoubtedly the most ambitious energy projectÂ” since the inception of the EU over half a century ago. He believes that improving links across borders in EuropeÂ’s energy grid could save businesses and consumers up to Â€40 billion ($45.4 billion) a year. A more energy-independent Europe will also increase the EUÂ’s political options in eastern Europe. [Â…] Â“Our...

In response to Russia’s increasing military belligerence in Ukraine and threats to expand to other parts of Europe, former Texas Governor Rick Perry has released a video with his take on America’s foreign policy toward Ukraine and what actions the government should take. “Last week we witnessed the fierce urgency of Western leaders shuttling to Minsk in an attempt to get Vladimir Putin to sign a piece of paper saying he would not continue his aggression against Ukraine,” he said. “But with the latest violence by Russian backed separatists in the eastern Ukraine, President Putin has again demonstrated his insincerity...

Before he entered politics, Yanis Varoufakis, the iconoclastic Greek finance minister at the centre of the latest eurozone standoff, wrote this searing account of European capitalism and and how the left can learn from Marx’s mistakes ___ In 2008, capitalism had its second global spasm. The financial crisis set off a chain reaction that pushed Europe into a downward spiral that continues to this day. Europe’s present situation is not merely a threat for workers, for the dispossessed, for the bankers, for social classes or, indeed, nations. No, Europe’s current posture poses a threat to civilisation as we know it....

Ash Carter has quietly thrown down the gauntlet in a lingering dispute with Russia: If President Vladimir Putin continues to violate the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the U.S. could respond in kind. “The range of options we should look at from the Defense Department could include active defenses to counter intermediate-range ground-launched cruise missiles; counter-force capabilities to prevent intermediate-range ground-launched cruise missile attacks; and countervailing strike capabilities to enhance U.S. or allied forces,” Carter told senators in little-noticed written answers to follow-up questions from his confirmation hearing. The defense secretary’s bottom line: “U.S. responses must make clear to Russia that...

War in Ukraine and the threat of conflict in the Baltics raise fundamental questions about the West's military alliance. What is Nato - the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation - for? And is it up to the job? Do would-be aggressors still believe that - as stated in Article 5 of Nato's founding treaty - an attack on one Nato member would be treated as an attack on all? Four expert witnesses including Anders Fogh Rasmussen - who led the organisation until a few months ago - share their insights with the BBC World Service's The Inquiry.

RIGA - NATO commanders have given the green-light for the creation of rapid-response force command and control centres in the Baltics and three other countries, National Armed Forces Commander Raimonds Graube confirmed to Latvian Radio. According to the portal lsm.lv, this means that a new unit will be set up in Latvia, and this unit will man and operate the new command and control centre. The unit will be responsible for logistics and organisational exercises, as well as receiving rapid-response forces in crisis situations. NATO already has a rapid-response force model in place, however, after Russia’s aggression in Ukraine —...

KYIV, February 20 /Ukrinform/.The idea of nuclear disarmament has failed and led to a selective reduction of the nuclear arsenal in the world, and, as a result, Ukraine received guarantees that are not performed in exchange for unilateral disarmament. Former Secretary General of NATO [1999-2004] and Secretary of State for Defence and Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland George Robertson expressed this opinion in his article for Herald Scotland, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. "I started my own political career, as many people know, carrying a Ban the Bomb banner. By giving up the Bomb I believed that we would give...

Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka says his country is ready for a "constructive dialogue" with NATO. Speaking to top Belarusian military officials in Minsk on February 19, Lukashenka said: "As a sovereign state we are open, in particular, to constructive dialogue with NATO on parity and transparency principles." He added that "we have a lot of common issues [with NATO]; joint work on which fully meets Belarus’s interests." Lukashenka -- who has ruled for 21 years and been called the last dictator of Europe -- said the fighting in Ukraine has shown that Belarus must have an army capable of protecting...

See what happens when you kick the leftists out of government and replace them with a real conservative. Erna Solberg, leader of Norway’s Conservative Party, took office as new prime minister in October, and introduced a new cabinet that ‘represents the entire country.’ The Local (h/t Marina) Conservative Party leader Erna Solberg – nicknamed “Iron Erna” – as Norway’s new prime minister is the leader of a centre-right coalition government that includes an an anti-immigration party.

Check out five opinions trending online, from Google’s black box to Hillary’s men. Voting with their euros: In a proxy no-confidence vote, Greeks are sending their money abroad as creditors try to reach an agreement with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board writes. “Fleeing deposits represent a resounding vote of no confidence in the new government, and no wonder. Mr. Tsipras’s hard-left Syriza party keeps digging in against reforms that would be necessary for Greece to stay in the euro.” Read more. Israel’s Sarah Palin: Writing for the Daily Beast, Ricky Ben-David and Nira Yadin analyze...

Perhaps we can try another once he's in Kiev... or Riga As previously noted here, thinking all at the table are negotiating in good-faith (when dealing with serially-dishonest former KGB agents who want to take things from you) is probably not a very good idea- when what we ought to be doing is arming the Ukrainians to the teeth and putting troops in Poland to exhibit (residual) NATO resolve. The Russians' completely ignoring the latest Minsk accord and continuing to slaughter Ukrainian citizens in the name of 'Novorossiya' without pause should be all the evidence any thinking person would need to...

Separately, the militants hope to cement their control of Libya then cross the Mediterranean disguised as refugees, according to letters seen by Quilliam the anti-terror group ISIS threatens sending 500,000 migrants to Europe as a 'psychological weapon' in chilling echo of Gaddafi's prophecy that the Mediterranean 'will become a sea of chaos' Italian press today published claims that ISIS has threatened to release the huge wave of migrants to cause chaos in Europe if they are attacked And letters from jihadists show plans to hide terrorists among refugees In 2011, Muammar Gaddafi ominously predicted war would come to Libya He...

<p>ANKARA, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Turkey will go ahead with plans to order a $3.4-billion missile defence system from China, Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz said, despite U.S. and NATO concerns over security and compatibility of weaponry.</p>

Fighting has flared up again in the Ukraine. The Egyptians are sending soldiers into Libya as another North African state collapses into chaos. The militants of Islamic State are spreading their influence across the region. You’d think Barack Obama might have bigger foreign policy issues to worry about than a small state of 10 million people on the eastern edges of the Mediterranean. But Greece may be about to turn from a European into an American problem. As the game of brinkmanship between the radical Syriza government elected last month and the European Union gets played out, it has become...

China's Real Estate Market Crashing... Real Estate is the single biggest domestic lending segment in China. Combined with deflation in Iron Ore, Steel, Copper, and other industrial metals China's collateral quality is looking very very shaky compared to loan volume... SNIP While the world's attention is glued to events in Greece, the real action continues to evolve quietly thousands of kilometers east, in China, where the near record surge in new loans remains unable to offset the dramatic slowdown in shadow banking issuance. And while China's bubble-chasing, animal spirits have recently reoriented themselves from real estate to the stock market,...

The White House is accusing Israel of "cherry-picking" information that distorts the U.S. position in nuclear talks with Iran. “There's no question that some of the things that the Israelis have said in characterizing our negotiating position have not been accurate. There's no question about that,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said during a press briefing on Wednesday. "We've also been very clear about the fact that the United States is not going to be in a position of negotiating this agreement in public, particularly when we see that there is a continued practice of cherry-picking specific pieces of...

US State Department reported to say Israelis would ‘twist details’ to undermine negotiations European officials have confirmed that the US State Department cautioned them against providing Israel with sensitive information on the current round of negotiations with Iran over its alleged nuclear weapons program, The New York Times reported Tuesday. The account came amid vehement denials by the White House and State Department that they had stopped updating Jerusalem on the progress in the talks, even though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted Monday that Israel was indeed being kept in the dark. The report quoted an unnamed European official involved...

One of Labour's most senior figures has resigned from the party and will be supporting Ukip because of Ed Miliband's failure to offer a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union. Harriet Yeo, who was chairman of Labour's ruling body between 2012 and 2013, is so disillusioned with Mr Miliband's refusal to offer a vote that she will be throwing her support behind Nigel Farage's party. She represents the most senior Labour figure to switch allegiances to Ukip to date, although there are suggestions that several Labour MPs are considering defecting.

The international community’s loss of interest in Libya after the fall of former ruler Muammar Qaddafi created the vacuum that allowed ISIS “to get strong,” its ambassador to the United Nations told Fox News Tuesday, following the release of an ISIS video in which 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians were beheaded on Libyan beaches. But in the meantime, the “most important thing right now is to lift the arms embargo on Libya so that the national army has the means to battle Daesh (the Arabic name for ISIS/Islamic State),” Dabbashi told Fox News.

The Conservatives have opened up a four-point lead over Labour after the biggest surge in their support for two years, a poll has suggested. A Guardian/ ICM poll showed that the Tories are six points up to 36 per cent, only one point short of their result in the 2010 General Election. Labour support fell one point to 32 per cent, while the Liberal Democrats were also down a point to 10 per cent.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday met with leaders of the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), and spoke about the renewed global awareness of the need to fight Islamist terrorism following last weeks attacks in Paris. "I think the war against terror will not succeed if it’s founded on hypocrisy, and I’ve yet to hear any world leader condemn the comments by (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan, not one," said Netanyahu...

~snip~ "We know there are doubts, questions across the community," French President Francois Hollande said Monday. "I will not just let what was said in Israel pass, leading people to believe that Jews no longer have a place in Europe and in France in particular." French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Monday the government would defend French Jews against what he described as "Islamo-fascism." "A Jew who leaves France is a piece of France that is gone," Valls told RTL radio ~snip~ German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday that her government will do everything possible to make sure Jewish sites...

Russia's top general said Friday that a strong nuclear arsenal will ensure military superiority over the West as Moscow forges ahead with a multi-billion dollar plan to modernize its forces by 2020. Russia, facing a likely recession because of a fall in oil prices and sanctions over Ukraine, must deal with new forms of Western aggression, including economic confrontation, said General Valery Gerasimov. But despite the deep economic woes, he said the Russian military would receive more than 50 new intercontinental nuclear missiles this year. "Support for our strategic nuclear forces to ensure their high military capability combined with ......

Even as three Rafale fighters line up in Bengaluru for eye-popping aerobatics displays at the Aero India 2015 exhibition this week, senior ministry of defence (MoD) sources say the proposal to buy the French fighter is "effectively dead".The reason: During three years of negotiations between Dassault and MoD officials in the so-called "contract negotiation committee" (CNC), it has emerged that Dassault's bid was actually higher than that of the Eurofighter Typhoon, not lower as the MoD had announced on January 31, 2012. Dassault had submitted a sketchy commercial bid, and when the CNC obtained details from the French company to...

Egypt says it has bombed Islamic State targets in Libya, hours after the group published video showing the apparent beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians. State TV said the dawn strikes had targeted camps, training sites and weapons storage areas. Earlier, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Egypt had the "right to respond" against IS. A video emerged on Sunday showing a group wearing orange overalls being forced to the ground and decapitated. IS militants claim to have carried out several attacks in Libya, which is in effect without a government. "Egypt reserves the right to respond at the proper time and...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Ukrainian army was a NATO legion, the goal of which was not to pursue national interests of Ukraine, but to contain Russia geopolitically. "We often say: the Ukrainian army, the Ukrainian army. In fact, who is fighting there? There are official units of the armed forces there indeed, partly, but largely, there are so-called nationalist volunteer battalions," Putin said while interacting with students at the National Mineral University in St. Petersburg. "In fact, this is not an army, but a foreign legion, in this case, a NATO foreign legion, which, of course, does...

Russian tanks descending on Warsaw and Berlin? Missiles lobbed at Washington and London? Such are the scenarios aired by a Russian national television program in response to suggestions that world leaders mark the defeat of Nazi Germany somewhere other than in Moscow. In a recent segment broadcast by the St. Petersburg-based Channel 5 station, presenter Nika Strizhak and a reporter suggest sending Russian tanks, fighter jets, and nuclear missiles to Western capitals should world leaders snub Russia's celebration of the 70th anniversary of Victory Day in May. "It's a very intriguing idea to move our Victory Day parade to London...

1 dead in shooting at event with Muhammad cartoonist By Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A gunman fired on a cafe in Copenhagen as it hosted a free speech event Saturday, killing one man, Danish police said. The event was organized by Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has faced numerous threats for caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad. Danish police said the gunman shot through the windows of the Krudttoenden cafe, which the TV2 news channel said were riddled with some 30 bullet holes. Helle Merete Brix, one of the event’s organizers, told The Associated Press that Vilks was at the meeting...

Danish police have said three officers were shot and wounded at blasphemy debate in Copenhagen where the French ambassador was speaking. Two gunmen are said to be still at large. Reports say up to 40 shots were fired outside the venue in the Danish capital. Controversial Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who has drawn caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, was also present at the debate. Shortly after the attack, a message appeared on the Twitter feed of French ambassador Francois Zimeray saying he was unharmed. Lars Vilks stoked controversy in 2007 by drawing pictures of the Prophet Muhammad dressed as a...

A debate over free speech in an age of terrorism took a dark turn in Copenhagen. A volley of gunfire ripped through a cafe where an artist from the 2007 controversy over drawings of Mohammed spoke. Early reports say Lars Vilks was not injured, but at least two others were, according to one witness..... The TV2 channel said Saturday there were some 30 bullet holes in the window of the Krudttoenden cafe and said at least two people were taken away on stretchers, including a uniformed police officer.

KYIV, February 14 /Ukrinform/. Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine have already more tanks than the armies of some NATO countries and Russia is preparing to send more. The statement was made by the US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt on his Twitter. “The separatists now have larger fighting force with more tanks, armored vehicles, heavy artillery and rocket systems than some NATO and European countries," wrote Pyatt. In addition, he has published satellite imagery showing the deployment of separatists' Russian anti-aircraft and artillery weapons near the city of Debaltseve, 70 kilometers north of Donetsk. “We are confident these are Russian military,...

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Essen will distribute the German Constitution in response to Salafists’ plans to give out free copies of the Koran in the city on Saturday. But Muslim residents say they’re creating a false opposition. “In a time when the threat from Islamist criminals is greater than ever, we have to combat the Salafists with all democratic means.”, president of the local CDU chapter Franz Joseph Britz told the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. But some Muslim residents of Essen were dismayed by the way the CDU had chosen to counter the Salafists. …

With tax receipts tumbling and ELA funding hitting its limit, the Greeks are up against it. On the other side, the Greek strength in the face of EU's demands (and Eurogroup's realization of the uncertainty this could lead to) has apparently led to the start of compromise. As Bloomberg reports, •*GERMAN, GREEK OFFICIALS SIGNAL COMMON GROUND ON AID DEAL •*GERMANY SAID NOT TO INSIST ALL PARTS OF CURRENT BAILOUT STAY •*GREECE SAID TO BE OPEN TO SURPLUS, PRIVATIZATION DEBATE As Merkel noted earlier, "Europe is always about finding a compromise," and it appears they are getting closer - as long...

Nigel Farage has said the Conservatives and Labour both "fear" a UKIP breakthrough at May's general election giving it the balance of power. In his first major speech of 2015, Mr. Farage said believed no party would secure a majority after May's poll. But UKIP would not "prop up" a government led by another party without an "immediate" EU referendum. The UKIP leader also claimed his party was now the only "truly national politics party" in the UK. He dismissed the Conservatives as a "regional party for the South of England" and Labour as a similar party for the North,...

The U.S. Air Force has deployed 12 A-10 Thunderbolt attack planes and approximately 300 personnel to Spangdahlem airbase, in Germany, as part of a so-called TSP (theater security package) in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve. The aircraft are from the 355th Fighter Wing, Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, and are expected to be ready to fulfil the TSP mission by the end of the month: TSPs are meant to augment U.S. Air Force in Europe support to Operation Atlantic Resolve, “the demonstration of U.S. European Command and United States Air Forces in Europe’s continued commitment to the collective security of the North...

It is important for clients to be aware of the total amount they paid for day care, and have the day care provider's tax ID number, Social Security number or employer identification number (EIN). A new requirement in 2015, those filing tax returns must bring proof of health insurance, for example Affordable Health Care Act Forms 1099 A, B, or C. Clients should know birth dates for the members of their family. Health Care Marketplace Navigators will be at each tax site to assist families with enrollment in the health insurance marketplace and to answer questions regarding tax credits and...